Two Billion Tonne Climate Bomb

Two Billion Tonne Climate Bomb

June 24, 2013

How to Defuse the HFC-23 Problem

EIA investigators have discovered that many Chinese and Indian facilities, despite having destruction technology readily available, are releasing or threatening to emit the by-product unless they receive additional financing to dispose of the chemicals. Plants that produce HCFC-22 in other developing countries could also do the same. If this happens, it would cause the release of more than two billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e ) into the atmosphere by 2020.

In 2018 the Environmental Investigation Agency continued to confront the greatest environmental threats facing the world today. The EIA team pursued, documented and exposed the activities of syndicates that threaten endangered species, damage the climate and ozone layer, and drive the trade in timber stolen from the world’s most important remaining forests.

This EIA investigation found that despite a 5th generation ban placed on the harvest and trade of rosewood (Pterocarpus erinaceus) in Ghana in March 2019 and a CITES appendix II listing that came into force in January 2017, massive illegal logging and export of Ghanaian rosewood to China continues unabated and with impunity.

Information obtained by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) demonstrates conclusively that the use of CFC-11 in China’s rigid polyurethane (PU) foam insulation sector, in particular in the building and construction subsector, is widespread and pervasive. CFC-11 is used as a foam blowing agent for the manufacture of molded foam panels and spray foam used for insulation purposes

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What are the HFC-free Technologies?

Widespread adoption of HFC-free technologies is cost-effective, energy efficient, and climate-friendly. Read EIA’s report Putting the Freeze on HFCs for hundreds of examples of HFC-free technologies available and in use today.